


if you wait just a little longer

by adequater



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-17
Updated: 2017-02-17
Packaged: 2018-09-25 02:36:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9798800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adequater/pseuds/adequater
Summary: the sweet reek of vanilla is constantly filling mark's nose in a very pleasant and intoxicating way and mark continues to drown, drown, and drown himself more into the sweet scent only to find himself getting confused and lost.alternatively, mark is just a gryffindor trying to adjust to sixth year and its' packed schedule while harbouring a crush on a particular fifth year ravenclaw who remains stone-faced to all of mark's blatant affections towards him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> here, it is sort of implied that hogwarts is set in korea. just because j.k rowling didn't make any wizarding school in korea. i even had the mind to put them in mahoutokoro which is a japanese wizarding school in japan but then, i would mess up the settings since i am in no way familiar with the school, nor has it ever been described explicitly like hogwarts.
> 
> i'm in no way confident with my writing, but i love markmin a lot, and the fact that this particular hogwarts!au made me surpass my writing record is an excitement itself to me. so i'm sort of excited and nervous to post this to the world. (it's pretty long to me, haha)
> 
> but nevertheless, enjoy reading! i miss jaemin a lot
> 
> p.s: very much unbeta'ed since i want to get it out of my system as soon as possible

“Here comes your crush,” Donghyuck says teasingly, peering over Mark’s shoulder in a manner that is supposed to be discreet, but results in him accidentally knocking down Jisung’s goblet, pumpkin juice spilling all over the table. Donghyuck barely even bats an eye as Jisung shoots him a glare and tries to wipe the spill on his robe. Mark can only offer him an apologetic griamce, takes out his wand and shoots out a quick cleaning spell on Jisung’s pumpkin-spilled robe.

 

“Shut up, Donghyuck.”

 

Classic reply. Frankly speaking, it’s just too early to deal with Donghyuck on the first day back to school as a sixth year. Also frankly speaking, Mark can’t even deny that Donghyuck’s words didn’t pique his interest, trying to resist the urge to just look back and look at said crush. But looking back would mean giving Donghyuck the satisfaction of admitting his infatuation for his crush. It’s too early for a Monday and first day back to give in to Donghyuck. Too early.

 

“Oh, look, he’s even scooping out the scrambled eggs. Potatoes next. Yuck, he drinks orange juice. That’s so gross, no wonder you like him, hyung,” Donghyuck narrates, scrunching his nose in disgust.

 

As if Donghyuck even needs to narrate everything. Mark knows almost everything there is to know about his crush just from watching him for the past two years alone. In fact, Mark knows that said crush is probably talking to that _very_ close friend of his in their Ravenclaw table.

 

“Oh, he’s sitting next to his lover boy,” Donghyuck, comments as he sips on his tea, the steam coming from the tea covering his face in a haze. Mark is honestly starting to wonder if Donghyuck is doing this just because he enjoys teasing Mark, or Donghyuck likes _his_ crush. Mark wouldn’t blame him if he actually does like Mark’s crush. His crush is pretty likeable, and Mark is speaking from experience.

 

“For fuck’s sake, Jeno isn’t his boyfriend, you know that,” Mark spits out vehemently, shooting Donghyuck an irritated glance, hunching over his plate even more, his right hand cutting his sausage aggressively, his mind supplying Donghyuck’s head as the sausage while his right fingers absentmindedly plays with the gleaming ‘P’ badge on his left side of robe.

 

“Jealous? And of course I know, but what’s the fun in that?” Donghyuck smirks, finally averting his gaze from Mark’s crush and his fucking lover boy to give Mark a smug look.

 

“Shut the hell up, or you’ll have to look out for your hair. I learned the instant scalping hex over the summer,” Mark threatens.

 

Classic. Once again, it’s just too early. _Too early._

“Mean!” Donghyuck’s hands fly to his brown locks in a protective manner. Mark basks in the look of alarm in Donghyuck’s features. “I’ll tell Professor Kim to switch my room.”

 

“Good. That’s one less insufferable brat out of the room,” Mark shoots back despite knowing full well that Donghyuck is joking.

 

“I’m not insufferable, aren’t I, hyung?” Jisung asks, his wide eyes looking at Mark in innocence and also an underlying challenge for Mark to say those words out loud again.

 

“No, no, it’s just Donghyuck, Jisung-ah,” Mark hurriedly comforts before the boy actually does something to him. Jisung can be scary.

 

Donghyuck shoots him a look of disbelief and makes a face while Jisung thankfully does not look at the verge of murdering Mark now. It’s definitely way too early to deal with hyperactive kids.

 

“Mark hyung, please. I’m only one year younger than you.”

 

“Yeah, and I’m only three years younger!”

 

_Way too early._

-

 

Don’t get Mark wrong. He loves being at Hogwarts. The atmosphere, the magic ( _God, the magic!)_ , the clean and luxurious Prefect’s bathroom that only a few get the privileges of experiencing, his friends, and just being at Hogwarts in general. But after going through the first day in a slow blur of Arithmancy, Potions, DADA, and scolding a bunch of first years for being too loud in his study period while lessons are still going on, the last thing Mark needs is a Prefects’ meeting after dinner when he just wants to pass out in bed in exhaustion preferably after going through his Alchemy and Transfiguration textbooks.

 

Mark got mostly O’s and E’s for his OWLs so he didn’t have to drop any subjects, but he decided to just take six subjects for his NEWTs which consists of Alchemy, Potions, Herbology, Charms, DADA, and Transfiguration since he deemed it as necessary for his future career as a healer. Mark didn’t expect sixth year to be easy at all since he is taking quite a lot of subjects, but he doesn’t really expect it to be this _hard._ It’s just the first day, and professors are already swarming the sixth years with essays to be submitted the same week and reminders of NEWTs despite it being another year. It results in him getting quite grumpy that even Donghyuck didn’t bother to tease him during lunch and dinner, choosing to talk to Jisung and other Gryffindors instead of prodding a reaction out of Mark.

 

Currently, Mark is shuffling towards the meeting room the Head Prefects assigned, with a same year Hufflepuff named Lee Chan by his side, idly talking about their mountains of assignment, their robes swishing behind their backs in a small breeze as they walked through the heated, but still chilly hallway, with the other Prefects behind them, Mark not even bothering to look back.

 

“Professor Jung literally gave us two Potions essays due on Friday,” Chan grumbles as he pushes open the oak door of the meeting room, “two! We haven’t even done the practical, but he wants us to make the essays from textbook and compare how accurate our essays are with the outcome of the practical. How annoying.”

 

“Tell me about it. I had no idea sixth year is this tough. It’s just the first day, for fuck’s sake,” Mark mutters, stretching his body as he sits down next to Chan, calmly waiting for the meeting to start, silently praying that he doesn’t get the curfew patrolling duty on school days. Those days are always a struggle since patrolling ends somewhere near midnight, and they have to be up early the next morning. He would prefer patrolling duties on weekends, instead.

 

“Hello, ladies and gents!” their new Ravenclaw head boy, Moonbin, says cheerfully as if NEWTs are not really taking a toll on him, but Mark can see his prominent dark circles so he is clearly not fending as well as he wants other people to believe him to be. “Just a quick meeting, don’t look so gloom! We’ll be introducing the new prefects from each houses, and give your timetable duties. Na Jaemin, if you may start?”

 

Mark’s head immediately snaps towards the direction Moonbin is talking to. Fuck, there he is. Na Jaemin in all his perfect glory, with his Prefect’s badge gleaming in the dim room and his blue tie peeking through his robe. Mark swoons slightly as Jaemin steps in the middle of the floor to shoot everyone a quick onceover smile. Mark’s heart traitorously shutters inside his chest when his eyes meet Jaemin’s briefly. Fuck, Na Jaemin is a Prefect.

 

“Hello, everyone. I’m Na Jaemin, the new Ravenclaw prefect. I’m in my fifth year. Thank you for picking me as a Prefect. I will do my best to do my duties well and help other students!” Jaemin says brightly, bowing after, getting a round of applause from the prefects surrounding him.

 

One more Ravenclaw whom Mark doesn’t recognise follows after Jaemin, introducing herself with more or less the same vigour as Jaemin. Two more prefects from Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff follow after the girl’s introductions and Mark politely claps at all the new Prefects, knowing that Moonbin is probably giving people who aren’t clapping The Eye, and Mark doesn’t really want to deal with that. The older prefects take turns to briefly mention their names just so that the newer ones know them, and introductions are over.

 

“Right,” Jieqiong, their newly appointed head girl steps in their circle of twenty-four, beaming at all of them, “now that introductions are all over, we’re going to assign your duties. This includes the curfew patrolling and meal duties. Now, we expect prefects who are not on duties to actually also look over the students depite it not being your duty day, okay?” she softly brushes her long fringe to behind her ears before continuing cheerfully, “Moonbin and I have actually assigned all of you and we expect no complaints about the partners you’re assigned with. We also expect no slacking off from all these duties no matter how tired you are from Quidditch, studying, or school. Patrolling duties must be done in partners, and you absolutely cannot let your partners patrol alone except when your partner has a reasonable excuse that involves health. Even when that happens, you must take other prefect to accompany you if your partner is sick. Are we all clear?”

 

Choruses of ‘yes’ ring through the meeting room, and Jieqiong smiles in satisfaction. Mark can remember the exact speech being said by their previous head girl, so he just absent-mindedly nods his head as he tries to discreetly watch Jaemin who is sitting four seats away from him in the corner of his eyes. Jaemin is currently focused on Jieiqiong’s speech of misbehaving students which Mark only half-listens to, preferring to watch Jaemin nodding at the parts he agrees with, with his right leg folded neatly over his left thigh. Mark wonders how can he look so amazingly impeccable when he is just sitting there listening to Jieqiong ramble. Donghyuck would laugh out loud at him for being a lovesick puppy.

 

A scroll that Mark guesses is their duties timetable drifts slowly towards him and Chan, making Mark stop his train of thoughts, focusing on the scroll as Chan opens it. Mark gets closer to Chan to scan the scroll quickly. Chan is apparently quicker than Mark at reading.

 

“Damn, Mark. We don’t have the same patrolling duties like last year again!” Chan pouts as he points at his name on the scroll which is assigned with someone from Slytherin. Chan suddenly looks closely at the scroll, squinting in concentration that has Mark stop his reading, “looks like you’re with Na Jaemin. A fifth year.”

 

What.

 

“Wait, what, really?” Mark exclaims in shock, showing the sign of emotions for the first time that day, looking at the scroll even more closely, his head with Chan touching. Mark sees his name at where Chan is pointing at the scroll. His eyes widening in disbelief as he sees the timetable. _Lee Minhyung/Mark & Na Jaemin – Tuesday, Saturday._

Fuck.

 

Mark’s eyes snap towards Jaemin to find that Jaemin is already looking at him. His lips forming a soft smile as he catches Mark’s eyes, and mouths _let’s talk later_ that has Mark stupidly nodding, his mouth hanging open. Mark consciously pulls his robe closer as Jaemin turns his eyes away from Mark after shooting him another smile. Mark hates how his heart can’t stop hammering in his chest and how much Jaemin has that effect on him despite the fact that this is technically their first time talking.

 

-

 

 _Let’s talk later_ turns out to be right after the meeting which finishes at around half past eight. Mark is fidgeting slightly because he doesn’t know when _later_ is and he doesn’t know if he should wait for Jaemin to approach him or just approach Jaemin himself. All the anxieties double when he sees Jaemin approaching him in a careful manner, and Mark quickly tells Chan to go on ahead without him as he has to talk to Jaemin which Chan replies with a salute, walking away with other prefects, easily slipping into a conversation with them and patting their shoulders because Chan is a social butterfly like that.

 

“Hi, I’m Lee Minhyung, or Mark. In case you forgot,” Mark says when Jaemin approaches him, wincing subtly after because _duh,_ how can Jaemin even forget when the scroll is in Jaemin’s slender fingers and he was just looking at the scroll not fifteen minutes ago.

 

“I’m Na Jaemin, in case you forgot,” Jaemin replies easily, a smile on his face. He gestures for Mark to start walking, and they start to walk to the Ravenclaw Tower since it is nearer to the meeting room. “You’re Donghyuck and Jisungie’s roommate, aren’t you?”

 

“Right, we’re sort of close,” Mark coughs out, and with how heightened his sense are at the moment he can even smell the sweet scent of vanilla emitting from Jaemin’s clothes. He can feel his heart hammering in his chest, feeling nervous for being so near to his crush for the first time and talking to him. He continues to fiddle with the end of his tie, already loose around the neck as it is quite suffocating to wear it all day long and Mark usually changes his clothes and shower after his last class is over just so he can be fresh in dinner, but that day, Jisung and Donghyuck decided that they are super hungry and they immediately dragged Mark to the dining room after his classes are over, leaving him with no choice but to go to dinner still in his uniform and eventually, the meeting, too. Mark winces as he remembers Jaemin’s tie from earlier looking neat and impeccable. How can someone be so perfect at everything, Mark wonders briefly.

 

“I see,” Jaemin hums, and there’s a little skip in the way he walks that Mark finds absolutely endearing, “guess we’re partners, huh? You’re older than me, right? So I’ll have to call you hyung?”

 

“You can call me whatever,” Mark blurts out, turning even redder as he sees Jaemin looking at him in confusion and slight amusement.

 

“Okay, Whatever-ssi,” Jaemin teases lightly, throwing his head back to bark out a laugh, and the tip of Mark’s ears are feeling too hot in the quite chilly castle.

 

“I mean. You can call me Mark or Minhyung! It doesn’t matter if it comes with hyung, or not,” Mark hurriedly explains, his finger flying to blonde locks he dyed over the summer, scratching his scalp lightly despite it not being itchy, he just wants his hand to do _something._

“Relax, hyung. I’m just teasing,” Jaemin says, nudging Mark lightly. “It’s nice to finally meet you in person. Donghyuck and Jisungie talk about you often when we’re together. He always says that he is going to introduce you to Jeno and I, but that never happens. Ah, sorry, and Jeno is my friend.”

 

Mark might actually use the Instant Scapling Hex on Donghyuck if he had actually told Jaemin all thousands of embarrassing stuffs about him instead of his equally thousands of good traits. Mark bites his tongue to tell Jaemin that yes, he quite knows (inserts Donghyuck’s annoying and squeaky voice) lover boy.

 

“Ah, I see. It’s Donghyuck, I’m not really surprised,” Mark replies drily before changing the topic, “Where do you want to meet up when we have duties? Do I go to the Ravenclaw Tower, or do you wanna meet up somewhere?”

 

“I’m okay with anything,” Jaemin replies easily, shooting Mark a reassuring smile.

 

“Guess I’ll go to the Ravenclaw Tower, then. It’s easier to start patrolling from West,” Mark answers. As they’re speaking, they have arrived at the Ravenclaw Tower. Mark stops in front of the large door, Jaemin stopping next to him.

 

“Well, I’m here. I’ll see you tomorrow, Minhyung-hyung!” Jaemin says cheerily, jogging up the small steps of stairs of the entrance, easily answering the riddle from the eagle doorknob. Jaemin waves goodbye at him as the entrance opens to the Ravenclaw common room, and Mark briefly sees the statue that greets the centre of the entrance of Ravnclaw common room, and the books surrounding the statue. Jaemin shoots Mark a small smile that has him waving stupidly back at him.

 

 _It’s unfair how much effect Jaemin has on him,_ Mark grumbles lightly as he walks to the Gryffindor Tower. Unfair. He can even tease him easily on the first meeting, while Mark can barely form any coherent sentence in front of him. Unfair.

 

-

 

“Surrender, you brats!”

 

“We won’t!”

 

Any Gryffindors probably know not to be alarmed when they hear those sounds from the boys’ dorm room on the second floor, the farthest room on the right where lives a third year named Jisung, a fifth year named Donghyuck, and a sixth year named Mark. An odd combination, but every Gryffindors know that they make it work and they are quite close.

 

Except apparently, Gryffindor first years.

 

A timid knock come from their door, making the three pause their banter, looking at the door simultaneously. Anyone seeing them would think that the scene is quite comedic; Mark’s hands are currently holding Jisung and Donghyuck’s heads to the floor of their shared dorm room, trapping them, with his knees on their backs, making them practically glued to the floor, unable to move their body, only wiggling their legs as they try to pathetically escape Mark’s wrath. Mark gets up to open the door, shooting the two a threatening look when they tried to get up to escape having to flail around again under Mark’s weight, making them cower back to the floor, their chins on the wooden floor and their limbs down, tired from flailing around for almost 10 minutes, complying instead of putting up an argument, knowing full well how it is when Mark gets angry.

 

“Yeah?” Mark greets as he opens the door a little, only peeking his head out, not wanting to show the first year the state of his other roommates.

 

“Uh, is everything okay, sunbae? We heard noises from next door,” the first year clarifies, fiddling his fingers and looking at Mark with a doe-eyed expression that Mark would’ve found cute if not for them being annoyingly prying, his friend next to him looking at him with a similar expression while tip-toeing, trying to catch a glance inside their sunbaes’ room, making Mark close the door even tighter. First years are cute as hell.

 

“It’s nothing for you to worry about!” Mark chides lightly, a fake smile adorning his features.

 

“Help us!”

 

“Call the House Captain!”

 

“Are you sure, sunbae? It sounds like someone is calling for help? What do you have in there, sunbae?” the one who tried to peek asks, and Mark is pretty sure this one is a Harry Potter fanatic who is making it seems like every year in Hogwarts is dangerous. Wrong, kid. That Harry Potter-esque adventures are over in the 90s.

 

“Yep, sure! No worries. Isn’t it curfew already? Do I have to tell a teacher to deduct off some points off Gryffindor for rule-breaking? You know how much our seniors hate it when first years are the one making us lose points,” Mark scolds, a small and threatening pout on his lips, making the first years scurry off after bowing apologetically. Mark closes their dorm room to come face to face with Donghyuck and Jisung trying to run away from the floor to their respective beds.

 

“Oh, I’m not done with you two, yet!” Mark exclaims, putting them in their original positions, this time with their ears pinched in between Mark’s fingers, Mark’s knees still in the same position as last time. “what the hell did you tell Jaemin about me, you brats?”

 

“Hyuuuuung,” Jisung whines, trying to get away again, “why am I here? I don’t even talk to Jaemin-hyung often.”

 

“Don’t try to escape, punk. I know you hang out with Jaemin’s Hufflepuff friend often, and they’re always together. Don’t even bother to lie,” Mark shoots back, pinching Jisung’s ears tigther.

 

“Ah, hyung! I swear, I swear I didn’t tell Jaemin anything bad about you! Do you think I’m that bad of a wingman?” Donghyuck whines in return when Jisung stays silent after Mark’s argument. Mark significantly releases a little force on Donghyuck’s ear.

 

“For real?”

 

“Well, there was that one time-“  


Mark tightens the hold he has on both their ears.

 

“Ow, ow, ow! Okay, we’re joking. We promise,” they both yell in unison, and Mark finally lets go of their ears, and gets his knees away from their backs. They all sit in a circle on the floor, Donghyuck and Jisung rubbing their tormented body parts, groaning in pain.

 

“What the hell did you even tell Jaemin about me? If it’s one of my embarrassing habits I swear I will tell Professor Kim that you guys always cheat when doing essays,” Mark threatens half-jokingly, settling himself near Jisung’s bed, resting his back on the bed post.

 

“I swear I didn’t say anything bad!” Donghyuck groans out, settling himself tiredly on the foot of his bed, mussing his hair, “in fact, I was literally telling them all the good things about you! Do you have that little trust in me?”

 

“Yes,” Mark deadpans, looking at Donghyuck blankly, to which Donghyuck replies with sticking his tongue out.

 

“But wait, hyung. How do you even know that we talk to Jaemin-hyung about you?” Jisung asks, looking puzzled as he moves to Mark’s bed.

 

“I got assigned to patrolling duties with him, so we had a little chat, and he mentioned that you talk a lot about me,” Mark sighs out, looking at them pointedly.

 

“Wait, doesn’t that mean you can actually have a reason to talk to him, now?” Donghyuck asks excitedly before continuing, “I’ve literally been meaning to introduce you guys to each other but I just can’t find the time!”

 

“Yeah, he mentioned that, too,” Mark grumbles, “you guys didn’t mention my crush on him, or anything, right?”

 

“We solemnly swear we didn’t,” the two choruses, with one of their hands up, a solemn look on their face as if saying an oath.

 

“Good. That’s one less thing I have to worry about,” Mark groans out, moving his body so that he is on the floor, facing the ceiling. Mark can’t even imagine Jaemin knowing that he has a huge crush on him since practically Year 4. He is already embarrassed as it is to know that his friends talk about him to Jaemin, he can’t have them talking about Mark’s infatuation with him.

 

“You know, this is like a really good time for you to get your game on with Jaemin-hyung. I’m sick of seeing you gush over him, hyung! It’s about time you get your moves on!” Jisung complains, flopping on Mark’s bed.

 

Mark takes out his wand from the pocket of his sweatpants, and accios a pillow from his bed to throw one to an unsuspecting Jisung. Mark relishes in the groan of pain from Jisung as it hits his face. “So, you’re sick of me now, brat?”  


“Hyung, no!” Jisung whines, “you get what I mean! You have been crushing on him for so long! You deserve to be happy, too.”

 

“I don’t even know if he likes boys,” Mark grumbles softly, making himself more comfortable on the floor.

 

“I’ll make sure to ask,” Donghyuck chortles before continuing, “and I agree with Jisungie! You have been crushing on him for over two years and you talked to each other for the first time in two damned years! You need to step up your game!”  


“What game? I don’t have one to begin with,” Mark replies, laughing too despite the hollow feeling in his chest.

 

“True, but you have two sidekicks with you,” Jisung counters back. The dorm room is silent for a second before the three bursts into laughter.

 

“So, that’s what we are? Mark-hyung’s sidekicks?” Donghyuck asks, snorting.

 

“Yeah! We’ll help Mark-hyung get the man of his dreams!” Jisung replies cheerily, rolling on Mark’s bed, pumping his fist.

 

The three then get ready for bed, making quiet conversation here and there and when the clock strikes ten forty-five the three boys are out like light, soft snoring filling in their dorm room. Mark may not have gotten any studying done that night, but at least he knows that he has two sidekicks by his side to get Jaemin to fall for him. That’s quite literally more comforting than the introductions to Alchemy.

 

-

 

The next time Mark is supposed to interact with Jaemin is the next day, a Tuesday, when they have their curfew patrolling duty. In Mark’s head, he can already see his composed self while talking to Jaemin, not some blubbering and flustered person Mark was last night. He is supposed to ask Jaemin about things he likes as they stroll through the hallways, looking for signs of students making out late at night, and it will lead to Jaemin somehow liing him. Except the universe has something in store for Mark, like it usually does.

 

The morning after starts like any other, groggily waking up, rubbing his eyes sleepily, and then waking up Jisung and Donghyuck. Then, he goes to the Prefects’ bathroom after he knocks lightly on the doors he passes by, waking up other Gryffindors. After showering and being much more awake, the three get ready and then go down for breakfast together. It’s supposed to be like any other day, but as Mark sits down and scoops up his scrambled egg for the day with Jisung rambling excitedly about an anime he watched over the summer and Donghyuck nodding excitedly, he is greeted by an unfamiliar voice.

 

“Good morning, Minhyung-hyung.”

 

Mark, in the middle of shoving the eggs down his throat stops in alarm and he exchanges looks with Donghyuck and Jisung. Mark realises that Donghyuck and Jisung’s chatter had stopped and they are currently looking at the person who is addressing Mark with their mouth subtly agape. _It’s not who Mark think it is, right?_ They nod discreetly at Mark. _It is._ In fact, they don’t even have to tell Mark because the sweet scent of vanilla is already entering Mark’s nostrils. Mark gulps and he turns around to look at the person behind him, with a frozen smile plastered on his face.

 

“Jaemin, hi, good morning,” Mark fumbles out, and he internally cringes. Jaemin shoots him a smile, and greets Donghyuck and Jisung good morning with an equally bright smile before he turns back to look at Mark.

 

“We’ll be meeting at the Ravenclaw tower, right, hyung?” Jaemin asks cheerily, bouncing a little on his toes, lightly bobbing his head to get rid of the fringe that is on his eyes.

 

“Aah, yeah,” Mark says, nodding slowly, hesitating. The hesitation must be obvious in his voice because Jaemin’s smile morphs into a reassuring one, and he nods at Mark.

 

“Right, I was just making sure! See you tonight, Mark-hyung!” Jaemin replies, still bouncing on his toes, and he goes to the Ravenclaw table after waving bye to the three of them where Mark can see that Jeno is waiting at, with Jaemin’s breakfast already prepared in front of him by Jeno. Mark turns back to face Donghyuck and Jisung and slams his head softly to the oak table, making the food on the table shake slightly.

 

“That was sooooo awkward, I wasn’t ready for that,” Mark whines, and he ruffles his head roughly, groaning.

 

“Yeah, that was super awkward. Thank god Jaeminnie isn’t a totally social noob like you,” Donghyuck muses, still chewing on his food to which Mark scrunches his nose at when he hears the sound of food being chewed with clarity.

 

“I’m not a social noob,” Mark argues back as he sits straight, scooping up some boiled potatoes, and eating them, “I was just not ready to face him.”

 

“How will you survive tonight, then, hyung?” Jisung asks, scrolling through his phone, and chuckling as Mark shoots him a threatening glare that the younger has gotten immune to.

 

“I know right, just imagining how awkward it will be between the two of them is making me shiver,” Donghyuck says, cackling, and Jisung and him shares a high five, laughing at their own joke. They really think that Mark is joking when he is saying that he knows the Instant Scalping Hex.

 

“Shut up, lessons are starting in like fifteen minutes. Be fast, stupid,” Mark replies weakly, having no arguments for once.

 

“Yes, Prefect-nim,” the two replies, quickly eating, and the three of them go to their own respective classes.

 

-

 

Mark paces relentlessly near the entrance of Ravenclaw enterance, and Mark is for once grateful that is it already curfew time, thus other students can’t see him making a total fool out of himself in front of the entrance, pacing uncontrollably. Mark stops, and he starts to look around the dim hallway, just needing his eyes to do something instead of constantly darting to the entrance of the Ravenclaw tower, where Jaemin would emerge in approximately ten minutes. It is Mark’s fault for being here earlier than the agreed time, but it is mostly his roommates’ fault too. They were too tired and distracted to see him fretting around their dorm, and it results in Donghyuck kicking him out of their dorm under the pretence of him being unable to focus on his Transfiguration essay that is due tomorrow. Donghyuck’s fucking ass. He’d be distracted if Mark wasn’t pacing around in their dorm, too.

 

Mark spots a drawing and he moves over to the frame, and he recognises the person in the drawing as their former headmistress who had passes away several years before Mark had entered Hogwarts. Mark makes a silent prayer in his heart, and he fixes his hair, squinting, and trying to see his reflection on the shiny glass of the frame that gets cleaned everyday by house-elves, before a voice from the frame itself interjects.

 

“Oi, I see you’re already treating me as a mirror. I’m dead, and the students of the next generation dares to disrespect me! This isn’t the first time either,” the headmistress in the frame exclaims, and Mark yelps in shock, looking up to the woman in the frame who is supporting a frown on her crinkly face, sitting uncomfortably on the little chair with the beautifully drawn background that Mark recognises as the head of the school’s room. Right, he forgets how the pictures can talk just because the headmaster’s picture has been frozen for the whole time he has been pacing around.

 

“Sorry, Madam Lee,” Mark softly murmurs to the frame, and his eyes dart to the entrance of the Ravenclaw tower that opened, expecting Jaemin to be out only for him to be greeted by the other Ravenclaw prefect starting her own other assigned duties. Mark waves at the girl, and she waves back.

 

“Are you skipping right now? Is this how the Hogwarts students have become?” the former headmistress asks disapprovingly, and Mark resists the urge to roll his eyes. He knows that the pictures are only part of their real identity, and they are not totally real, but it would still be rude to roll his eyes at the former headmistress.

 

“No, madam. I’m a prefect and I’m just waiting for my partner to come out to do our patrolling duties,” Mark replies politely, and darts his eyes to the Ravenclaw tower’s entrance yet again.

 

“Partner? Your girlfriend, my boy?” the headmistress asks, this time her arms are delicately folded over each other as she watches Mark intriguingly and also scornfully.

 

“No,” Mark huffs out impatiently, and he looks at his watch, just another six minutes of waiting. “My partner. For my patrolling duties? Since I’m a Prefect?”

 

“Right, right. Where are you and you girlfriend going off to, then?” she asks again, looking like she is ignoring Mark’s earlier statements, and Mark is just about to retort back that it is not his girlfriend that he is waiting for when the entrance of the Ravenclaw tower opens and Jaemin comes out in his hoodie and jeans, waving at Mark just as he spots Mark in front of the frame.

 

“A boyfriend, then, my boy?” the headmistress asks, following Mark’s eyes that are on Jaemin, and cackles when Mark’s face turns crimson.

 

“Oh, hello, madam. I see you’re still awake,” Jaemin greets and points out politely as he approaches Mark and the frame. Mark can already smell the comforting scent of vanilla. “Hello, Minhyung-hyung.”

 

“Right, hello,” the headmistress hurriedly says just as Mark replies with a ‘hi’ of his own, and she straightens herself on her chair, softly patting the emerald green of her dress, looking smug, “you must be this fella’s boyfriend, huh? Have fun _patrolling_.”

 

The headmistress says patrolling as if it’s something sinful to do and Mark can feel his face heating up even more as Jaemin looks at him in confusion at the headmistress’ words to which Mark hurriedly replies with a shake of his head and gesturing Jaemin to start the way to their patrolling.

 

“Sorry to keep you waiting. I was doing homework with Jeno and got a little bit carried away,” Jaemin says apologetically as they walk side by side with their wands shooting out light after saying _lumos_ to make sure that the hallway is less dim and so that they can actually see students hiding around in secluded hallways.

 

“It’s okay. I wasn’t waiting for long,” Mark lies, ignoring how the words _carried away_ and _Jeno_ are in the same sentence and chooses to look around the hallway instead, his heart that was beating erratically from the former headmistress’ teasing finally coming to an acceptable rate. He did wait for a pretty long time considering he was already there thirty minutes before their agreed time, but Jaemin doesn’t need to know that little fact.

 

“What are you taking for NEWTs, hyung?” Jaemin asks, trying to keep the conversation going as they walk. Mark can see from the corner of his eyes that Jaemin is peering through the left side of the long hallway, making sure that no students who escaped are out of his eye.

 

“Alchemy, Potions, Herbology, Charms, DADA, and Transfiguration,” Mark replies, humming to a tone of a muggle song Donghyuck has been repeating lately.

 

“Oh, a Healer, I’m guessing?” Jaemin asks hesitantly but his tone still bright, and lets out a small ‘ah’ when Mark nods. “That’s really neat. Hyuck told me that you’re like really smart? Is that true, hyung?”

 

Oh, so Donghyuck wasn’t lying when he said that he is not that bad of a wingman.

 

“Wouldn’t that be narcissism to actually agree with that?” Mark asks weakly, chuckling softly after and Jaemin chuckles along with him.

 

“So, it’s true, then,” Jaemin concludes, shooting Mark a teasing smile, and they turn to a corner that leads to the Slytherin’s dungeons, where the walls of the hallway are plastered with frames of people who are sleeping and hisses when either of the two’s wands that are releasing light accidentally shoot at them. “That’s really cool. I totally suck at Potions. I have no idea how you can even take Alchemy, hyung.”

 

“Hm, really? I think I’m just better at those things that have Maths and Sciences,” Mark confesses, and peers through the seemingly empty hallways before gesturing Jaemin to not go that way to the Slytherin dungeons, turning back towards the main hallway, “what’s your favourite subject, then?”

 

“I love History of Magic!” Jaemin replies brightly and Mark scrunches his nose in disgust at the sheer excitement present in Jaemin’s tone.

 

“History of Magic? Seriously? You have no idea how glad I was when I dropped History of Magic in NEWTs,” Mark shudders before continuing, “so I’m guessing, a lawyer?”

 

“Yep,” Jaemin laughs, and they continue to venture further away, making sure to check every hallways they passed. “I think I’m better at memorising things and making essays, though. Except for Potions essays. I can never get the perfect ending potion just because I can’t decide when I stop stirring with my wand and when do I have to stop adding things. The textbook is always really vague with their explanation it annoys me.”

 

“I can tutor you in Potions if you want me to?” Mark blurts out, his muscles immediately frozen, making them stop in the middle of the hallway, Mark wonders briefly where did his own courage even come from? Jaemin looks at him in surprise.

 

“Really?” Jaemin asks in disbelief, his eyes looking at Mark in shock, slightly tinkling in the dim hallway.

 

“Sure,” Mark shrugs because he has no other choices and he did offer to help.

 

“It’s not burdening or anything, right? I mean, I know sixth year is a pretty busy year for you. Do you even have time to tutor me?” Jaemin asks again, just to make sure, and they turn back after reaching the end of the hallway to go the Ravenclaw tower.

 

“Yeah,” Mark assures, laughing at the worry lacing Jaemin’s words, “helping other people with studying is also revising to me. Plus, Professor Jung rarely repeats the experiments we have done before the sixth year even though they have come out in the exams before so we have to do our own revisions with materials before the sixth year, and I can even recall along when I tutor you.”

 

“Really?” Jaemin asks again, and this time it’s more of sheer disbelief, and he looks at Mark in doubt, his sharp canines worrying over his bottom lip nervously.

 

“Yes!” Mark exclaims, and he thumps Jaemin’s back softly in consolation and reassurance, “trust me, if anything you’re the one who’s doing me a favour, okay?”

 

“Okay,” Jaemin laughs.

 

-

 

“Minhyung-hyung!”

 

Mark looks up from his Transfiguration essay in alarm, afraid of getting scolded by the stern librarian because the voice is pretty loud in the deafening silence of the library, only to be greeted by Jaemin settling himself on the chair in front of him, with a bright smile plastered on his face. He waves at Mark across the table and Mark waves back, dumbfounded.

 

“Can I sit here?” Jaemin asks with a hushed voice, despite already sitting in front of Mark before asking for permission.

 

“Sure,” Mark replies with an equal hush, and he steals a glance at the another five inches of the essay on nonverbal spells waiting to be written before he puts his pen down, sighing softly. He has been here for quite a while. He deserves a break, doesn’t he?

 

“You’re here early. Breakfast just finished,” Jaemin points out as he takes out his Charms textbook and quill from the small bag Mark just realised he brought along with him. He must have put a charm on the bag for it to fit all of his tremendously big textbooks and papers.

 

“I’m always here at this time,” Mark tells him and he leans back on his chair, stretching, his bones cracking satisfyingly before he lets out a yawn, “what are you doing here? I thought we haven’t really made a schedule on when I have to tutor you.”

 

“Well, I was planning to come here after breakfast. I saw you sitting here all alone and lonely so of course I had to accompany you!” Jaemin says cheekily, and he picks up his quill right after.

 

“Tsk, I wasn’t lonely,” Mark defends himself with a bright grin of his own, “I was concentrating, Jaemin. Like anyone in the library would. And who the hell still uses quills?”

 

“Uh, me, and all of the other sophisticated people out there?” Jaemin replies teasingly and he twirls the quill between his fingers expertly, looking like he has done that several times before for him to get used to doing it without even realising.

 

“Are you calling me unsophisticated?” Mark shoots back and a voice in the back of his head reminds him just how flirty they are being right now.

 

“No, hyung,” Jaemin giggles, and they actually got a shush from the librarian this time. “No,” he repeats when his giggles subside. “For real, though. I was planning on going to the library after breakfast with Jeno. But he totally bailed on me when he found out Hyuck and Renjun are having some friendly Quidditch match. A shame, though. I could have introduced him to you.”  


Mark hums in acknowledgement. He doesn’t even know if he would like to actually know Jeno personally, but he keeps his mouth shut with that one particular comment. He chooses to watch Jaemin starts writing on his paper with his eyebrows furrowed as he twirls his own pen in his hands like Jaemin did earlier. After a few more moments of watching Jaemin write, he starts to continue his Transfiguration essay.

 

“Oh, and that reminds me! When are you free, hyung? I can totally adjust my schedule just so that you can tutor me,” Jaemin asks abruptly after some silence on the table. Mark looks up from his paper and is greeted by the sight of Jaemin resting his head on the table, looking up at him with hopeful and twinkling eyes, and his ridiculous quill between his fingers.

 

“You’re that desperate to spend time with me?” Mark asks teasingly before he can even stop himself. His body froze for a few seconds, afraid of offending Jaemin because no matter how comfortable Jaemin seems to be around him, he just knew Jaemin (personally) about two weeks ago. It’s only when Jaemin lets out a breathy laugh, clearly amused at Mark’s reply, does Mark’s muscles relax.

 

“No, I’m just desperate to pass my Potions,” Jaemin retorts, lifting his head up from the table and resting his elbows on the table to properly look at Mark, “my parents would kill me if I don’t get full set for my OWLs.”

 

“How many hours do you need, though?”

 

“I think twice a week, and two hours per session should be enough,” Jaemin answers, and he looks like he’s doubting to ask Mark about something as he bites on his bottom lip, contemplating.

 

“What?” Mark asks.

 

“You’re doing this for free, right? I mean, I’m just making sure! I could totally pay you if you want, hyung,” Jaemin replies and Mark stares at him, dumbfounded, and Jaemin fidgets under his gaze, looking away from Mark as he continues to worry on his bottom lip.

 

“Of course, I’m doing this for free, you dummy. I’m helping you, aren’t I?” Mark replies, chuckling, and he leans forward slightly to flick Jaemin’s forehead, and he crinkles his nose, ready for pain, but there’s a look of relief on his face when the flick doesn’t hurt since his bangs are covering his forehead.

 

“I’m just making sure,” Jaemin cries out, and the librarian gives them another shush and a look of displease from the counter where she is stamping up some books.

 

“But anyway, I think I’m free on Friday night and Saturday morning like this, if you want?”

 

“Friday night?” Jaemin asks, and he crinkles his nose again, this time in distaste.

 

“Yes, Friday night,” Mark retorts, smirking at Jaemin as he continues to write on his paper, “not up for a wild Friday night full of Potions, Jaeminnie?”

 

“No,” Jaemin grumbles, a small pout on his lips, “I literally have Potions for the last period, hyung. Can’t you change the time? I will have double potions on the same day.”

 

“Well, I am free on some other days, but isn’t it better to have tutoring when you don’t have school the next day?” Mark tries to reason, and he can physically see the way Jaemin’s resolves crumble when he grunts in acknowledgement. “Plus, if it’s on weekday, you would have homework to do and we even have patrolling on some nights.”  


“Ugh, fine,” Jaemin groans, his voice loud in the silent library, and Mark can see from the corner of his eyes that the librarian is beginning to get impatient and she is walking over to them to probably kick them out.

 

“Pack your thing,” Mark sighs out to Jaemin as he starts packing his own things that are sprawled on the table. “Just pack up. Trust hyung.”

 

“Young men, I’m afraid I have to ask you to leave since you two are causing quite a ruckus in this very peaceful abode,” the librarian begins, and the two nods hurriedly and mutely as they try to pack their things as fast as they could. “Oh, goodness, and you’re both prefects! How outrageous it is that prefects are the one condoning this kind of behaviour!”  


“We’ll be leaving now, Mrs. Lim,” Jaemin rasps out silently, and they both exit the library in a haste, laughing and leaning against each other immediately the moment they step out of the glass door of the library.

 

-

 

“You’re tutoring him,” Jisung deadpans for the second time.

 

“I’m tutoring him,” Mark replies, also for the second time.

 

“You’re tutoring him,” Donghyuck deadpans for the third time.

 

“I’m tutoring him,” Mark replies for the third time, sipping on his soup under the watchful gaze of his two roommates.

 

“You’re tutoring him?” Donghyuck exclaims, and Mark is just about to reply like he did earlier for the fourth time when Donghyuck holds up a hand. “We get it, hyung. It’s just that you’re tutoring him when you don’t even want to teach us the things we don’t understand!”

 

“Yeah!” Jisung agrees, the spoonful of rice in his mouth making his reply muffled.

 

“You’re totally twisting my motives there,” Mark points out, pointing his chopsticks at the two of them, “first thing, you guys have never asked me to tutor you before. Wait, shut up, I’m not done. Secondly, when you guys ask for my help with homework, you just ask me for my past essays that you can copy off from which of course, I’m not going to help you with.”

 

“But-“ Jisung interjects.

 

“Thirdly, I do explain to you what you don’t understand when you actually ask me real questions. Remember that Charms trick I taught you, Jisung-ah?” Mark interrupts and asks, and Jisung looks down on his food, defeated.

 

“Okay, fine, fine,” Donghyuck relents after Mark gives his very reasonable reasons, and he leans forward to smirk at Mark, “but you do have other motives when you offered to tutor him.”

 

“No,” Mark replies quietly, the tips of his ears heating up so he chooses to shove more rice and beef in his mouth instead of elaborating.

 

“Sure,” Donghyuck snorts out. “You want to spend more time with him! You’re such a sap!”

 

“Ah, hyung, hyung, give Mark-hyung a break. This is his first interactions with his crush of two years,” Jisung defends teasingly, and they both snicker. Mark almost feels like saying that if he wants to defend Mark and also tease Mark, he’d be better with his trap shut.

 

“Jaemin-ah! Jeno-ya! Come sit with us!” Donghyuck suddenly shouts, looking at the people at the entrance, after the three of them continue to eat in a silence. Mark looks up in alarm as Donghyuck continues to wave his hands excitedly, obviously ushering the two friends to come join them.

 

“Hey guys,” Jaemin greets as both him and Jeno arrive at their table. Jaemin slides next to Mark, and almost immediately Mark smells a whiff of vanilla, and Jisung quickly ushers Jeno to sit next to him, and Jeno simply complies.

 

“Ah, Minhyung-hyung, this is Jeno! Jeno-ya, this is Mark! Or Minhyung,” Jaemin excitedly announces to Mark, and Mark simply smiles at Jeno warmly to which Jeno replies with a nod and a smile of his own.

 

“Ah, so this is the famous Minhyung-hyung Jaemin has been talking about,” Jeno muses, and he shoots Mark a small smile while Donghyuck laughs at the pout on Jaemin’s lips.

 

“I do not talk about Minhyung-hyung all the time,” Jaemin argues, and he scoops out some rice from the food in front of him along with the other food served for the day.

 

“Sure, Jaemin,” Jeno deadpans, and even Mark has to laugh. Fine, so maybe he is feeling a little bit too happy at the fact that Jaemin actually talks about him, and he did make a wrong first impression on Jeno just because he’s close with Jaemin. Right, sue him.

 

“You call Mark-hyung Minhyung?” Jisung asks.

 

“Yeah? Isn’t that Minhyung-hyung’s name, too?” Jaemin answers, confusion evident in his features and Mark can feel the awkward way his ears heat up in awkward embarrassment as the topics somehow shift towards him.

 

“Oh, yes, totally,” Donghyuck reassures, and he scoops some food in his mouth before continuing, “but isn’t it a mouthful to say hyung like, twice?”

 

“I guess,” Jaemin muses, and he tries to say Mark’s name again, “Minhyung-hyung. Wow, it really is. I have never thought of it that way. Do you want me to call you Mark-hyung, hyung?”

 

“I don’t really care, Jaemin,” Mark replies, amused at the way this conversation has taken a turn into.

 

“I’ll call you Mark-hyung,” Jeno decides, after silently mouthing the two possibilities in his mouth again and again.

 

“But I’m so used to calling you Minhyung-hyung,” Jaemin whines and he sips on his water, looking at Mark as if waiting for Mark to decide for him to call Mark what.

 

“Then, call me Minhyung-hyung. I don’t really care, Jaemin,” Mark replies, and the smile plastered on his face widens as Jaemin nods in satisfaction.

 

“Minhyung-hyung,” Donghyuck mouths mockingly when Jaemin turns back to his food, and Jeno talks about the recent Quidditch game that he, Jisung, and Jaemin are completely immersed in.

 

“Shut up,” Mark mouths back, kicking Donghyuck’s shin under the table, with a look on his face that tells Donghyuck to do as he says.

 

“Minhyung-hyung,” Donghyuck mouths again, just to spite Mark, and after he gets the reaction he wants which is Mark giving him another glare and a kick on his leg, he lodges himself in the three’s conversation easily with commentary of his own.

 

_Min hyung hyung. Va nil la._

 

 

-

 

Let’s get this straight, Mark is not the most athletic person out there and it needs to be engrained in the heads of everyone who knows him. Mark doesn’t hate Quidditch, per say. He just doesn’t like it, and the fact that it is a sport is something that contributes to him avoiding it even more. But here he is, watching the match of Slytherin and Hufflepuff in front of him with an unimpressed expression. Why is he here? You ask. You can see Jaemin, Donghyuck, Jisung, and Jeno next to him who are excitedly shouting Renjun’s name, the seeker of Slytherin, and also Chenle, another seeker but from Hufflepuff. Blame them.

 

Mark had insisted on not going to the match, preferring to stay inside the air-conditioned castle instead of the outside heat of the Quidditch field, where the hint of summer is still in the air despite it already being autumn. But of course, Jisung had whined that he needs to go because his friends are playing, and when Mark argues that the two aren’t even playing yet because the Gryffindor match is the week after and he’s not even that close with Renjun and Chenle, Jisung chose to ignore Mark’s argument and video called Jaemin on his phone to let Jaemin coax him into going. That’s blackmail. How can Mark not give in when Jaemin whined cutely at him to go or else they won’t be _friends._ What kind of sane human won’t give in? The ones that kick puppies, for sure.

 

“You seem to like Quidditch a lot,” Mark comments after the game when he and Jaemin are walking back to Mark’s shared dorm with his other roommates, the others leaving them in order to congratulate Renjun on his team winning. Mark and Jaemin chose to leave together after saying their congrats just because they want to have a shower after the sweaty match.

 

“Mhm, I do,” Jaemin replies brightly as they head towards the Prefects’ bathroom, but then his voice turns gloom, “but my parents made me quit it in the fourth year just because they think that I have been paying too much attention to it more than my studies.”  
  
“Oh,” Mark replies, and he coughs awkwardly. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s alright, don’t be awkward about it, hyung,” Jaemin laughs, but Mark can sense that it is not truly sincere, punching Mark’s shoulder softly after. “I’m way over it.”

 

They both quickly strip their clothes off, and head to their shower, putting a reasonable distance to each other, and Mark feels himself having to physically strain himself from looking at Jaemin’s naked form near him. He studies the way the wall of the shower is filled with lining of gold on top and bottom, while in the middle sits a beautiful naked girl, with her arms long, making a circle, and the same girl decorates the line, all the way until Jae- right, he is not supposed to look. Nope.

 

They finish showering quickly and from the corner of his eyes, Mark sees Jaemin quickly putting on his sweatpants after drying off his legs, clearly feeling awkward with being naked in a room with Mark, too. Mark is just drying his hair with his towel after quickly putting on his hoodie and sweatpants when Jaemin’s voice breaks the silence.

 

“You want to go to Hogsmeade next weekend after you tutor me?”

 

“Huh?” Mark asks, and he looks at Jaemin who is studying him on the bench, still with only his sweatpants, and it takes Mark’s whole willpower to not drift his eyes away from Jaemin’s face, and to his naked torso. “Hogsmeade? Sure. Pretty sure Hyuck and the others are going, too. But they’re probably going earlier if we both go after your tutoring. Is that okay?”

 

“Sure,” Jaemin replies, and he quickly picks up his shirt, puts it on, and they both exit the bathroom, and starts to walk to Mark’s dorm in a relatively comfortable silence, and a small scent of vanilla still lingering between them.

 

 

-

 

Hogsmeade is prettier in the winter, everyone thinks, but Mark thinks that it looks the best in autumn. In the bright autumn light, it almost feels like Canada. Like what home used to be for Mark. With the sun lightly shining to the shops’ glistening window, with the shops’ owners greeting each other and just the pure comfort of everyone being nice to each other reminds Mark of Canada. It has been quite a long time since he left Canada to go to Korea, and he misses it sometimes, late into the night when he does his studying, he would think back about things in Canada and how things used to be. He tells Jaemin that as they enter the Hogsmeade.

 

“I think Hogsmeade looks best in autumn, too,” Jaemin agrees with him, and he kicks at the leaves that are scattered all over the ground. “I just love autumn in general. It’s the best. Not too cold, not too hot. It’s just right.”

 

“Yeah, I know right? I hate winter. It’s just too cold and snow is really annoying when it gets too much.”

 

“Do you miss Canada?” Jaemin asks after humming in acknowledgement. They’re both just walking around mindlessly at this point, looking around for their other friends who had arrived earlier, and when they fail to even see their silhouette, Mark takes Jaemin’s wrist in his hands, and drags him to Honeydukes.

 

“I guess, sometimes I do miss Canada,” Mark shrugs, and he starts to take the basket at the entrance, offering Jaemin one only for him to shake his head, gesturing Mark to go on, and Mark goes on to his favourite gummy station. “my family is in Korea so it’s not about missing them being there. I guess I just miss the environment there, sometimes? Sometimes.”  


They exit Honeydukes and Mark tries to call Jisung’s phone to ask where they are. When Jisung replies that they are at Three Broomsticks, the two of them start to walk towards the pub, with Mark’s fingers still around Jaemin’s small wrist. They both enter the pub, and they are greeted by their friends waving at them excitedly.

 

“You’re holding hands,” Renjun, who is sitting probably the farthest one from the two points out a greeting, and there’s a huge teasing smile on his face. Mark immediately unhooks fingers around Jaemin’s wrist, and raises his hands like a criminal, Jaemin next to him doing the same thing.

 

“No, we’re not,” they both say in unison, and a this point their group of friends had turned to look back at the two with their teasing smile plastered on their face.

 

“Yes, you are,” Renjun giggles, and he seems to find the whole thing amusing just as the others in the group do. Chenle next to Renjun is craning his head just to see their supposed interlocked fingers, while Jisung who is next to him cackles gleefully. While Donghyuck just looks at him smugly as Jeno chuckles at the two.

 

“We weren’t, okay?” Jaemin insists, and he moves to sit next to Jisung, and Mark takes his seat next to Jeno.

 

“Sure, hyung,” Renjun says, and Mark just knows they all don’t believe him. but before Mark can say anything, Renjun moves on to talk about other things. “Are you guys coming home on winter break?”

 

“Probably no,” Donghyuck sighs out, and he stretches his limbs as he bites on his straw, a gross habit he has when he finishes his drinks, “I will so get distracted from OWLs if I leave for Christmas. I wouldn’t even have the energy to study after all the food my mum feeds me.”

 

“Right?” Jeno groans out, “I’m probably not going home, too. There’s just too much studying to do. Mark-hyung is so lucky that he finished his OWLs already.”

 

Choruses of groans and agreements ring through the table and Mark chuckles. “Yah, NEWTs is harder than OWLs, okay?”

 

“We know, hyung,” Jaemin groans this time, shooting Mark a look that Mark sticks his tongue at, “It’s just that it’s a relief that you’re at least done with OWLs, you know?”

 

“I guess,” Mark shrugs. He guesses things do get quite a bit easier after OWLs. In the sense that he doesn’t have to take many subjects compared to his NEWTs. But if Mark were asked to choose between re-taking his OWLs or having his NEWTs exams, he would pick OWLs in a heartbeat, just because NEWTs years are truly stressful even to Mark, who is used to having pressure pressed into his head.

 

“Won’t you all be lonely spending the Christmas at the castle?” Chenle asks, a small pout on his lips as he rests his head on the table.

 

“Chenle, with Donghyuck in the castle to keep the castle noisy, I bet they wouldn’t even notice the whole two weeks of the winter break going by,” Jisung retorts, and winces when Donghyuck kicks his shin under the table.

 

“Are you two going home?” Mark asks Jisung and Chenle, and nods when they reply that they would. “Ah, how great it is to still be in fourth and third year, huh. Make it last, kids.”

 

“You make us sound like we’re totally kids, hyung. You literally sound like my dad,” Jisung grumbles, and he sips on his drink only to scrunch his nose when only the loud sound of him sipping on his straw comes out. Chenle next to him nods vehemently, agreeing.

 

“What Minhyung-hyung said is true,” Jaemin interjects, and Mark leans forward to high-five Jaemin. “Starting from fifth year, things are going to be really hard.”

 

“Ah, and now you’re both acting like our parents,” Chenle points out innocently, but Donghyuck and Renjun burst out in laughter, Jeno and Jisung following right after, and Mark along with Jaemin can only watch helplessly with heated face as their friends laugh at them.

 

“What?” Chenle cries out loudly, not knowing what is funny.

 

“Chenle-ya, doesn’t having them as parents mean that they have to get married?” Renjun points out, and Jaemin leans over Jisung and Chenle to pinch Renjun’s side to which he gets a little yelp at.

 

“Married, parents,” Donghyuck wheezes out, laughing so hard that he has to lean his body on Jeno to support himself.

“I guess?” Chenle pauses, deep in thought before continuing with a bright and teasing smile on his face. “Guess you’re the parents in the group, now, Jaemin-hyung, Mark-hyung.”

 

That only results in their friends laughing even more, and Mark feeling his ears heating up more. Mark looks at Jaemin as the other laughs, looking at the uncomfortable look on his face, and Mark can see from the corner of his eyes that Jeno is asking Jaemin if he is okay to which Jaemin replies with a timid nod. Interesting.

 

-

 

“Mark-hyung,” a voice says softly, and Mark snaps his head to the direction of the voice only for him to be greeted by Jeno settling in front of him with an Astronomy textbook in his hands.

 

“Jeno?” Mark asks confusedly, and he looks at his wristwatch. Forty-five past nine. Don’t fifth years usually have class at this hour? “What are you doing here? Don’t you have class?”

 

“Professor Ahn called in sick, so our relief teacher gave use free period to go wherever the hell we want,” Jeno explains and he makes no move to even open up his book nor does he take out any of his writing essentials, and Mark only nods as a reply. He goes back to his Herbology past year papers, trying to recall the answer to the function of some plant that is used to cure skin problems. He knows the answer since he was just studying it last week, but not answers come in his mind, and Mark eventually gives up, choosing to flip towards his notes to search for the answers.

 

“So,” Jeno starts, and he tries to look as nonchalant as possible as he peers over Mark’s notes, “so.”

 

“What, Jeno? Just spit it out,” Mark sighs out, giving Jeno a look.

 

“You really like Jaemin, huh?”

 

“We’re friends, of course I like him,” Mark replies weakly, but from the look on Jeno’s face, even he knows that Mark is beating around the bush.

 

“You know that’s not what I meant, hyung,” Jeno replies easily, and Mark scrunches his nose, settling his pen down to properly look at Jeno.

 

“Fine. Even if I do like him, what are you going to do about it?” Mark asks, and Jeno chuckles.

 

“So you do like Jaeminnie,” he concludes, and Mark is pretty sure his face has turned crimson now. “Well, I’m not going to do anything, obviously. I’m not that bad of a wingman. But the question is, are you going to do something about your crush on him?”

 

“I don’t even know if he likes guys,” Mark points out grudgingly, setting his head on the table, and choosing to look up to Jeno.

 

“Oh, Jaemin likes guys alright,” Jeno says softly, barking out a small laugh after.

 

“So what do you want me to do? Do you want me to make a move on him or you want me to stay away from him? I really don’t get what you’re trying to say,” Mark says honestly, and Jeno’s expression morphs into one of sympathy.

 

“Of course I would like you to make a move on him, hyung,” Jeno sighs out, and he seems to be contemplating on something before he sighs. “But Jaemin’s life is sort of…difficult. Let’s just say that if his parents find out, it will be really complicated.”  


“What do you mean?” Mark asks, intrigued, and Jeno shakes his head and stands up hurriedly before saying, “Ah, I have next period now.”

 

“Yah, Lee Jeno,” Mark whines quietly, sitting up properly as he watches Jeno pack up his things. “What the hell do you mean?”

 

“It’s not really my place to tell, hyung,” Jeno grunts out, and Mark resists the urge to groan. “You should ask Jaemin. I’m sure he’ll tell you if he’s ready.”

 

-

 

Mark knows that the moment the sweet scent of vanilla fills his nose, it’s not any ordinary potion they have done before. Mark takes another whiff, just to make sure, and his nostrils are still filled with the same sweet and intoxication vanilla scents that in mark’s head look like little white flowers drifting towards him. It’s a nice smell, he decides, and looks around, because the only person he knows who smells exactly like that is not here. Is there anyone else in the room who uses the same perfume as the only guy Mark knows smell like that?

 

“Say, Doyeon,” the teacher calls out the girl next to Mark, and Mark turns his eyes away from the potion to the professor, watching her as she stirs the potion that is in a huge cauldron slowly as the students watch her carefully. The professor immediately ushered them to gather around the cauldron and just watch her make the potions the moment they entered the class, instead of them doing it themselves under the pretence of the potion being too dangerous, “what do you smell?”

 

“Apples,” Doyeon immediately says, and Mark freezes. So, it’s a….

 

“What? I literally smell freshly cut grass!” Tzuyu, a Slytherin, interjects.

 

“Oh, I smell toothpaste,” the one next to her, Kangmin says, and they all look confused. Aren’t potions supposed to smell the same to them all?

 

“Ah, I see some of you haven’t started on your revision yet, huh?” Professor Choi tuts, and the complaints stop, suddenly all of them are avoiding Professor Choi’s eyes. “What if I say that this potion actually differs by the way it smells for each person. Anyone knows what’s the name of this potion?”

 

“Amortentia,” Mark blurts out, the tip of his ears heating up when his classmates turn to look at him.

 

“Good job, Mark,” Professor Choi praises, “what does it do, Mark?”

 

“It’s a love potion that will make the person who drinks it become infatuated with the one who gives it. It doesn’t create love, but it creates something close to obsession,” Mark recalls, and claps ring through the classroom.

 

“Great job! At least I know that some of you have done your revision, ay?” Professor Choi chides lightly, and awkward coughs are filled in the classroom. “What Mark says is true. But the reason why it smells different from each person is because it smells like the person or things that you like. I’m pretty sure none of you like the same person, huh?”

 

“Now, this potion is highly dangerous. It can cause obsession that runs so deep if it ever gets into the wrong hand,” Prfoessor Choi says seriously, and they all nod in unison, watching carefully as she puts a cover on top of the cauldron, “so, I won’t ask any of you to try this out, okay? I also don’t want you to do this at home or in your dorms. It’s dangerous, take my word for it. I just demonstrated how to do it because it’s in the syllabus, and questions come out in the structured exams. Are we all clear?”

 

Chorus of ‘yes’ ring through the room, and Mark still faintly smells the hint of vanilla.

 

_Va nil la._

-

 

“Say, have you smelled Amortentia before?” Mark asks Jaemin on one of their patrolling session, about another week until winter break.

 

“Amortentia? That really powerful love potion?” Jaemin asks again, lifting on of his eyebrows up. “No, I don’t think I have. Why?”

 

“Nah, it’s nothing. Professor Choi made the potion the other day in class. It smells different for each person, apparently,” Mark answers, and he absent-mindedly looks around the empty and dark, except for the light shining though their wand, hallway.

 

“Oh, really? Why does it smell different from each person?” Jaemin asks, and Mark loves the fact that Jaemin looks genuinely excited to know. He’s always like this. Mark could be talking about a boring anime, he would still be excited to know.

 

“Apparently, it’s because one’s attraction to things and people are different,” Mark shrugs.

 

“What did you smell, then?” Jaemin asks, and Mark takes a deep breath.

 

“Vanilla,” Mark answers, hoping to get the message across, and Jaemin seems to get it when he freezes slightly, masking it as him peering through one of the room.

 

“Vanilla is nice,” Jaemin comments.

 

“It is,” Mark replies.

 

-

 

Mark doesn’t know how he ended up liking Jaemin. It crosses his mind two days after the winter break started, when Donghyuck is sitting on his study table and studies the Arithmancy formulas in front of him, with his Ancient Runes next to it. Donghyuck is always a neat studier. He needs his study station to be neat in order to be fully concentrated. Meanwhile Mark is just the messiest studier there ever is, his books are always sprawled all over the table along with his notes, and pens. Jisung is just a person who rarely studies but since he’s only in third year, Mark lets him off the hook. Mark thinks Jaemin is the kind of studier who is both neat and messy. He will try to keep his work station clean but always ends up having a total mess. That’s how Mark views it when they study together at the library.

 

“Hyuck, when did I start liking Jaemin?” Mark asks, when his brain can’t conjure up the answers to his earlier question. It’s almost midnight, and there’s almost no curfew when almost all students except for a few are in the castle. Mark has finished his studying just thirty minutes ago, and had immediately plopped on his bed.

 

“Uh, wasn’t it when you saw him with me?” Donghyuck suggests, his head still bent down over his Arithmancy work, furiously scrawling something on to the paper.

 

“Oh, yeah. When you partnered up with him for a project on Care of Magical Creatures, huh,” Mark answers absent-mindedly. “But like, when did this crush turn so big?”

 

“Uh, I think it was when you were in fifth year? I mean you started liking Jaemin in fourth year. But you saw him played Quidditch in Jaemin’s last year of playing,” Donghyuck answers again, and this time he is biting on his bottom lip, eyebrows furrowed, probably solving another hard Arithmancy question.

 

“Right,” Mark replies before he sighs, kicking his blanket softly, “ah, I was going crazy trying to remember. How did you even remember?”

 

“Duh, I’m your best mate,” Donghyuck easily replies, and Mark chuckles.

 

“I think I really like him,” Mark softly murmurs, and Donghyuck snorts from the table.

 

“You think, hyung?” Donghyuck asks, and Mark throws a pillow at him, which he skilfully dodges.

 

“Ah, I don’t know!” Mark groans, “it just used to be some kind of crush but ever since we were assigned to patrol together, it has been hard to stop liking him.”

 

“Did you even plan on stop liking him at the first place?”

 

“No,” Mark answers mournfully, “but I wasn’t planning to like him even more.”

 

“You should tell him about your feelings. Jeno told you that he likes guys, right?” Donghyuck suggests, and at this point Donghyuck is fully immersed in the conversation, actually putting down his pen to properly study Mark who is on his own bed, his long limbs awkwardly sprawled.

 

“Should I?” Mark asks, and Donghyuck throws the pillow thrown at him earlier.

 

“Yes, dumbass!” Donghyuck shouts, and Mark yelps as the pillow hits him with an incredible force. Donghyuck is not a beater for nothing. “Now, go to sleep or jack off or whatever. Let me go back to my Arithmancy.”

 

“Nerd.”

 

“Says the nerd.”

 

-

 

“Just spit it out, hyung,” Jaemin sighs out, putting down his quill, choosing to study Mark who is quite literally fidgeting in front of him.

 

“Spit what?” Mark blurts out, and Jaemin shoots him a look.

 

“Come on, you’ve literally been silent the whole time we’ve been here. I know you wanna say something,” Jaemin points out, and Mark cowers. They’re at the library, Jaemin inviting Mark to go there after breakfast, and Mark readily agrees.

 

“It’s nothing,” Mark grumbles, and he picks up his DADA book, flipping through it, and when he still feels Jaemin’s eyes on him, he lowers the book down, “nothing!”

 

“Ah, I thought our friendship is way past the ‘nothing’ stage. Just tell me what’s going on?” Jaemin presses, and Mark huffs, annoyed, but knowing that his resolves are crumbling.

 

“I like you,” Mark mumbles quickly, and Jaemin leans forward to hear better.

 

“What?”

 

“Ah, you’re teasing me!” Mark whines, and he throws his head back, “you so heard that.”  


“No, I didn’t!” Jaemin exclaims and Mark is grateful that the librarian is currently out, so they can be as loud as they want to be.

 

“Ugh, fine,” Mark sighs, and he takes a deep breath. “I like you.”

 

“What?”  


“You’re lying if you say that you didn’t hear that,” Mark says weakly.

 

“You like me?” Jaemin asks, and Mark can see the fear evident in his feature.

 

“Yes. I thought it was obvious all along, and I’ve been dropping so many hints for so long. Even the others did. You seem to know by the way you react. Why are you so surprised?” Mark asks, and he feels the insecurity gnawing inside him as he watches Jaemin who is sitting, star-struck, in front of him.

 

“H-Hyung,” Jaemin stutters out, and Mark waits, “I don’t think I can do this.”

 

Jaemin bolts out of the library after the words leave his mouth, and Mark’s feels like someone just punched him in the gut, and his breath is heavy. So heavy, and his heart feels hollow, like someone just took a piece of his heart, and ran away with it. Like Jaemin did. He ran away.

 

-

 

The rest of the winter break is awkward. Jeno and Donghyuck have to adjust their time just so that they can avoid having Mark and Jaemin in the same room together. Mark eats in the dining hall together with Donghyuck at the Gryffindor table while Jaemin and Jeno eat at their Ravenclaw table even though the Gryffindor table is annoyingly not filled with people since it’s winter break. Mark spends the rest of winter break either holed up in his room, playing games and watching anime on his laptop, or studying, either in the library or his room. He tries to act like nothing happened and Jaemin is trying to do the same thing, while their own respective best friends try to not mention the others’ names too often. The only time Mark actually sees Jaemin directly is on Christmas when the students who have stayed in Hogwarts for the winter are having dinner together with the headmaster and all the teachers left. Mark tries to not look at Jaemin sitting in front of him, while Jaemin actually tries to catch his eyes. It’s a relief when the dinner ends.

 

After winter break is even more awkward, because they have to patrol together, and the only solution for Mark is to beg on his knees to Moonbin to let him partner up again Chan, and Moonbin, even as scary as he is, actually changes the assignment. Chan is only more than happy to comply without asking any questions. It’s also awkward when the others like Jisung has to act like he wasn’t just spending time with Jaemin just out of the sake of loyalty towards Mark. Renjun and Chenle actually tries to console Mark the day after all the students go back by giving him candies and chocolates, and Mark could only say thank you and laugh humourlessly.

 

Mark thinks about Jaemin a lot. Tears even threaten to fall out late into the night when his thoughts drift away from the studying material in front of him to eventually questions of whys. Why did he reject Mark? Mark knows that there’s a high possibility of Jaemin liking him back and Mark is starting to doubt all of his analysing skills before. Did Jaemin really like Mark? Or was it just mere illusions caused by his infatuation? Mark doesn’t know. But then he remembers the fear in Jaemin’s features. What are you afraid of? Mark wants to ask desperately because he just wants answers.

 

Not unsaid words and regrets.

 

-

 

Mark knows something is odd when Renjun and Chenle slip next to him, and Renjun slings his arm over Mark’s shoulder. Mark looks around, and surely enough, he sees Jaemin being dragged to their table by Jeno and Jisung. Donghyuck sitting in front of him with a smug smile. Fucking ass.

 

“Well, I think I’m full now,” Mark says, and he tries to stand up, but Renjun’s scrawny arm on his shoulders prevent him from doing so.

 

“Sit down, hyung! We need to have family dinner!” Renjun says cheerfully, and Mark glares at him as Jeno, Jisung, and Jaemin settle down next to Donghyuck. Why is he friends with athletic people?

 

“Yeah, the parents of the family must be present in family dinner,” Chenle chides lightly, and Jisung must have kicked his foot under the table because he freezes two seconds later. “I mean, just because Mark-hyung and Jaemin-hyung are the parents of our family, it doesn’t mean that you two have to get married.”

 

“Chenle, shut up,” Donghyuck coughs out, and Mark rolls his eyes. Can they get any more obvious?

 

“Anyway, it has been so long since we have last eaten together! Come on, lighten up, hyung,” Renjun interrupts to tame the awkwardness, nudging Mark slightly, and then wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

 

“And it’s Mark-hyung’s last year!” Jeno interjects happily, and he rests his arm on Jaemin’s shoulders which result in Jaemin grunting at the weight, “we have to spend more time together before he leaves.”

 

“I’m in sixth year, Jeno,” Mark points out, and there’s a smile threatening to come out of his face. His friends are trying so hard to make things seem normal. It’s absolutely endearing.

 

“Right, I meant your last year spiritually here. Seventh year will be busy, you know?” Jeno tries to cover up, but everyone a hundred kilometres away can sense the bullshit. Mark lets out a chuckle, and the table seems to let out a collective sighs of relief in unison.

 

“How was your winter break, Chenle?” Jaemin asks, and Chenle starts talking about his Christmas in China.

 

Things are back to normal. Or closest thing to normal.

 

-

 

“You should talk to Jaemin,” Renjun says as a greeting, plopping down on the chair in front of him and Mark looks up from his books. The kids are always barging in when Mark is studying it’s barely a surprise anymore.

 

“Maybe _he_ can talk to _me_ ,” Mark retorts, rolling his eyes, and Renjun pouts at him.

 

“Hyung, Jaemin has a reason, okay? I mean he was being a complete asshole when he walked out on you when you confessed, but just listen to him first, okay?” Renjun coaxes him, and Mark sighs at him.

 

“If he has a reason he knows where to find me,” Mark replies stubbornly and it elicits a sigh from Renjun. “let Jaemin do what he wants, Injun. He can think on his own whether he wants to tell me his reasons, or not.”

 

“I just want things to go back to normal, hyung. It’s awkward when you two fight,” Renjun replies, resting his head on the table to look at Mark, his eyes tinkling innocently.

 

“Me, too, Injun.”

 

-

 

“I’m sorry, hyung,” Jaemin says determinedly, and Mark looks at him in shock, the way he had been looking at Jaemin for the last five minutes when Jaemin barged in the Gryffindor dorm, and dragged Mark, who was in the common room’s huge table studying with Yoojung, outside.

 

“You’re not even saying hello first, brat?” Mark asks, and Jaemin smiles sheepishly at him, and God, Mark misses him and the strong whiff of vanilla in the air when he is around.

 

“Sorry, hyung,” he repeats.

 

“You’re going to tell me why you left that day?” Mark asks. They’re in some secluded hallway near the Gryffindor tower, and Mark leans against the wall, with Jaemin in front of him, looking at him determinedly.

 

“I-I,” Jaemin stutters, before he takes a deep breath, “I used to date someone back in fourth year. That person, let’s just say, was a pretty bad influence. Made me skip some classes just to meet them, and I had few fails and that made my parents pretty angry at me. They thought it was Quidditch that was causing me to become that way. Saying that I was too focused on Quidditch that I abandoned my studies. They made me quit Quidditch. That was okay, I guess. I was pretty in love with the person I dated back then.”

 

“My grades got a bit better, and my parents were pretty relieved. But they were visiting the castle one day, and they saw me with the one I was dating. Must have been kissing or something. And that someone I was dating was a boy. They were pretty angry at me. They’re conservative folks. It has always been set in their head that I would marry some girl, and I don’t think I rolled that way. They made me leave the guy, and that guy moved somewhere to Japan, and that’s that. I just sort of get scared at falling in love, but yeah, you came along,” Jaemin finishes his story, and at this point his voice is pretty hoarse.

 

“Oh,” Mark says, and he takes Jaemin’s hands in his, and intertwine their fingers together, Jaemin sighs, “I’m glad I know your reason of running away, then. But, you’re telling me this to just, I don’t know tell me this? Or you’re giving us a chance?”

 

“I think I want to give us a chance,” Jaemin finally says, and Mark chest feels light at the words. “I don’t think I’m going to start liking girls anytime soon, hyung. You’re a smart ass guy. I think they would accept a smart guy, right?”

 

“Right,” Mark replies, and he laughs, resting his head on Jaemin’s shoulder. “I miss you so fucking much, you know. There were so many doubts in my head. It was so hard to act like everything is fine when it’s not and when you look okay.”

 

“Sorry,” Jaemin whispers, and he kisses the top of Mark’s head. “It was hard for me to act like everything was fine, too, hyung. Jeno was so done with me moping at the dorm.”

 

“So, we’re together?” Mark asks, and he lifts his head up to look at Jaemin properly.

 

“Yeah. Can I kiss you now, hyung?” Jaemin answers, and asks, and when Mark nods at him, Jaemin smashes him to the wall, kissing him breathless.

 

They’re okay. They’re okay.

 

-

 

“O!” Jaemin exclaims, three of his wet finger down, making him hold up seven fingers, and Mark looks at him in concentration, with his own two wet fingers down, so that he is holding up eight fingers.

 

“Occlumency!” They both shout in unison, and giggle afterwards. The water around them sloshing everywhere, and the air is filled with the scent of some unknown bath bomb that Jaemin brought from home.

 

“Who gets that point?” Jaemin asks, and he moves around the big bath tub to sit next to Mark, and Mark tries to once again ignore his naked form under all the water and bubbles.

 

“You, then,” Mark says, giving up like he did with the last time they said the words together.

 

“Ah, you’re being nice towards me because I’m your boyfriend!” Jaemin points out, but he still lets down one finger, and is showing six fingers now. He rests his wet head on Mark’s naked shoulders, and Mark’s head and heart feel warm at the mention of the word.

 

“That’s a really nice word,” Mark comments, and Jaemin laughs at him, his laugh tinkling and loud in the sparse Prefect’s bathroom. It’s a few hours later, and they decided to take a shower before they go to dinner. It’s nice.

 

“I wonder how we’re going to tell the others? Hyuck and Jisung were at their Quidditch practice earlier, so they didn’t really see me barging in your dorm,” Jaemin asks, and he lets his hands down, indicating that their game is over, so Mark follows after.

 

“Should we just let them figure it out, or we can tell them?” Mark muses, and he runs his finger through Jaemin’s hair, Jaemin letting out a soft purr after.

 

“Yeah, we should let them figure it out,” Jaemin replies softly, and he sounds like he is on the verge of falling asleep, and Mark lets him. They stay in the tub for a few moments, Mark studying the door of the Prefect’s bathroom absent-mindedly as Jaemin takes a small nap on Mark’s shoulder. It’s sort of gross since they’re both wet, but it’s okay because they’re both together. The door of the Prefect’s bathroom opens, and loud voices immediately ring through the bathroom.

 

“I’m really worried about Mark-hyung and Jaemin,” a voice Mark recognises as Donghyuck’s says, and Mark freezes. Shit.

 

“Yeah, me too. Jaemin has been moping like hell in our room, Hyuck,” another person says, and Mark immediately recognises the voice as Jeno’s. Double shit. The moment they enter the bathroom, they will probably see Jaemin’s head resting on Mark’s shoulder. They will probably see the pure nakedness of the two and thought that they were doing something. Fuck.

 

“Mark-hyung?” Jeno says timidly as he steps into the bathroom. Donghyuck next to him looking at them like a deer caught in headlights. Mark can only look back at the two with an awkward smile, and he lifts his hand up that was in Jaemin’s hair, waving at them.

 

“Ah, we so didn’t need to see this,” Donghyuck groans out, and he and Jeno fakes throwing up, and Mark can only watch, frozen, because Jaemin is still asleep, and he would probably wake up soon if the two continues their fake-puke party.

 

“What are you two even doing here? You know only Quidditch captains are allowed to use the Prefects’ bathroom,” Mark weakly argues, and he is greeted by unimpressed look by the two. He resists the great urge to submerge himself in the water.

 

“Were you two doing anything?” Jeno asks suspiciously, and Mark’s face heats up at the accusation, tries to deny when Donghyuck interjects.

 

“Ah, Jeno, Jeno. No, we don’t need to know this,” Donghyuck groans, and he quickly ushers Jeno out. “You better tell us all about it at dinner, you filthy asses!”

 

Jaemin wakes up soon after the door slams shut, and Mark grins sheepishly at him as Jaemin, who is rubbing his eyes, looks at him in confusion.

 

“Was someone here?”

 

“Let’s just say that we will get a lot of interrogation at dinner later,” Mark replies, and he gets up, quickly going to his towel.

 

“Damn, that’s tough,” Jaemin replies, seemingly to caught on to the meaning of the sentence. “You have a really nice body.”

 

“Thanks,” Mark coughs out awkwardly, and Jaemin laughs at him.

 

They’re okay. They’re back to normal. They’re more than okay.

 

**Author's Note:**

> and we're done.
> 
> and yes, hogwarts students here can bring phones because honestly harry potter was set in 1990s, surely the rules would change over the years since technology has improved right? right. this is self-indulgent, anyways, ahaha.
> 
> fun fact, this has been sitting in my writing files for quite a long time already but i only got it up until the very first scene. the onslaught of ideas just come crashing down to me at school about a month after i wrote the first scene and i literally planned the whole layout of the story on paper at school at break hahaha. no typing!
> 
> kudos and comments are appreciated :)
> 
> i'm on [twitter](https://twitter.com/nctkkum) if you wanna follow me! 
> 
> and i opened up a [curiouscat!!](https://curiouscat.me/adequater) if you wanna ask me questions hehe
> 
> thank you for making it this far.
> 
> and for loving markmin, they deserve the very best. #getwellsoonjaemin


End file.
